


Until Dawn

by tirsynni



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, First Time, Ghost!Revali, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27799405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: Before his final battle with the Calamity, Link wants to be sure he has no more regrets.
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 183





	Until Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Another one from my personal, tiny Halloween challenge. :D

Revali was ice cold, feathers stiff against Link’s side. Even now, it was strange looking at Revali, expecting to see shivery little puffs of breaths to match Link’s and seeing nothing but that eerie glow.

Even with all that, there was nowhere else Link wanted to be: just him and Revali, sitting together, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff as they watched Rito Village below. Link couldn’t see much, just torchlight and cooking fires. He could hear even less, even with his sharp hearing. There was the howl of the wind, the hum of Vah Medoh’s cannon, his own chattering teeth.

There was no matching sound from Revali. No harsh breathing. No rustle of feathers. Only the silence of the grave.

It was strange but Link didn’t mind it. Most of his best friends were ghosts now. He didn’t know what  _ he _ was. 

If Link wanted, no matter where he was in Hyrule, he could point to the exact spot where he died. It was like reawakening that memory awakened something else inside him. He  _ remembered _ the pain and the pain  _ fading _ , how his breath stuttered in his chest, the feel of Zelda’s arms around him fading. He almost wanted to tell Revali, but if he did…

It would be an invitation. Link shared his death story, and an invitation for Revali to share his. Link was… not  _ all right _ with the knowledge that Revali was dead beside him, not when Revali deserved better, not when they both died on the battlefield yet Link breathed and Revali didn’t. But he was accustomed to it. He liked sitting beside Revali, lack of breathing and all, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear about the details of Revali’s final breaths.

Revali sighed, an odd, airless thing, and bumped Link’s shoulder with his own. He was as cold as the winds around them. Link leaned into him. “So…  _ Master _ Revali, hmm?”

He raised his chin as he said it, trying for arrogant, but instead he only sounded pleased and  _ shy _ . Link couldn’t hide a smile, biting back his own useless fury. Revali earned that title. He should have lived long enough to truly claim it.

“Yep,” was all Link said.

Now those dead feathers moved, ruffling with clear pride. Link smiled at him, feeling his own quiet pride when Revali beamed back.

He wished he had more memories of Revali. Memories of him warm and breathing, of his chest moving when he laughed. Surely they had to have touched once in life? Had Link ever known the softness of Revali’s feathers?

He could  _ guess _ . Teba and Tulin and Saki were free with their touches. Kass several times swept him into a hug, so Link knew exactly how it felt when a feathered chest pressed against his, how large wings felt wrapped around him. Saki and Amali both gave him Rito kisses, brushing their beaks against his cheek. 

None of them were  _ Revali,  _ though. The closest he had was the sensation of Revali’s Gale carrying him through the air. 

“I think Teba wants to master the Gale,” Link admitted quietly, voice almost lost to the wind. He kept his eyes focused on the town below, as if he could see Teba’s familiar white feathers if he tried. Teba was probably at the Flight Range. Teba spoke as if he wanted Tulin to be the next “Master Revali” but Link had seen Teba in action as well as those moments he lost himself in thought. Teba always focused more on action than words.

Revali huffed. The air before his beak was still. “He had better. If not, he isn’t half the Rito I thought he was.” He paused and seemed to consider. “Not that I expect him to do it any time soon, but he better at least  _ try _ .”

Link smiled. “He’ll get it.” He just doubted that either of them would be around to see it.

Another harsh wind swept over their perch, and Link shuddered. The Snowquill armor was effective, but sitting on a frozen rock didn’t help much. 

Pressed against Revali, of course the Rito noticed. Revali shifted, moving to raise a wing, only to lower it again with a scowl. Both knew that Revali had no body heat to give. Revali’s whole body twitched and he glared at the village below. The firelight continued to flicker, heedless.

“You should head down to the village.” Every hint of the earlier pleasure was gone. “This place isn’t exactly meant for the living.”

Link clenched his fists. He wanted… He wanted…

“I’m fine here.” They were running out of time. There was only one Divine Beast left. After that, Calamity Ganon. One way or another, Link knew it would be the end.

Revali grunted, pressing his shoulder a little harder against Link’s. His wing twitched again. Link wished he would just give in. “A hundred years hasn’t done a thing to improve your intelligence of self-preservation, I see.”

Link didn’t answer. If he made a campfire, it would probably be warm enough to keep him safe through the night, if not comfortable. Tomorrow he would be in the desert. It would more than make up the difference. He would be all right for one night.

Except then Revali coughed and cleared his throat. “We would need to be careful, considering the cannon, but… If I flew you toward the back of Vah Medoh, it should be a safe enough place to stay the night. If you want.”

This time, Link bit back his smile. “Yes. Please.”

xoxoxo

The flight up to Vah Medoh was far different from Link’s last flight to the Divine Beast. Even at the high altitude, Teba had been warm under him, body moving in time with his breaths. Revali was as cold as the air, the ghostly green light surrounding them both. 

Link liked it more than he expected. Probably because it was Revali taking him flying, not just lifting him with his Gale.

Revali kept them away from the burning red light, but the air still felt too hot against Link’s frozen skin before Revali flew them toward the safety of the rear. Vah Medoh’s interior was warmer than Link expected, too, and no campfire was needed.

It still wasn’t enough to warm up Revali, but Link didn’t care. Once they settled inside, Link curled up against him, anyway.

One way or another, it would be the end soon. Link had no doubt that his old self carried regrets when he died. Link was determined to not have any now.

Thus, when Revali scolded him, reminding him that “living idiots needed their sleep,” Link leaned forward and brushed his nose against Revali’s beak, just like he had seen Amali do to Kass, like Saki with Teba.

Revali’s startled gasp was satisfying, as was his wide eyes when he stared at Link. Link simply leaned forward and did it again. 

“Link,” Revali managed, and Link had been wrong before: listening to that small quaver in Revali’s voice was  _ beyond _ satisfying. “You don’t… I …  _ What are you doing? _ ”

He sounded startled but not disgusted, confused and bewildered but not moving away.

_ Now _ Link smiled.

“I died once with regrets.” Of all his memories, that seemed the clearest: those final moments, pain, weakness, Zelda’s tears. “I don’t want to do it again.”

Soon he would face the monster who was strong enough to kill  _ Urbosa _ . If he survived that, then he needed to face the monster which had killed them all.

When Revali lifted his wing and brushed Link’s face with his feathers, Link didn’t flinch or shiver, no matter how the cold feathers felt. They were running out of chances. Most of those chances died a hundred years ago.

“Link, you know --”

“I know,” Link interrupted. As much as he loved Revali’s voice, the Rito really needed to figure out when was a good time for talking and when was a good time for action.

Revali opened his beak to argue again, anguish darkening his eyes. Link interrupted again before he could say something useless. “I love you.”

He had no idea if he had in his last life, but he thought he did. His first memory of Revali had a light and brilliance that the others didn’t. When he first set eyes on Vah Medoh, heard her shriek, his heart skipped a beat.

Revali gave him  _ wings _ in this new world. He wondered if Revali had any clue how much that meant to him.

And watching Revali’s face light up now, startled and awed and so brilliant, it felt like something lit up in Link’s chest, too.

“You’re  _ such _ an idiot,” Revali murmured. Yet he still moved so he could brush his beak against Link’s nose, his cheek. Link sighed and refused to close his eyes.

Vah Medoh was warm, bordering on hot due to the cannon, and Link remained warm even when he stripped out of his Snowquill armor. In contrast, Revali remained cold, icy, but it was all right: Link and Vah Medoh could generate enough heat for all of them.

Revali pressed onto him, into him, and Link held him as close as he could, sharing his heat and heartbeat and breath. 

Link held Revali and Revali held him and they held on until dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> For more fic and fandom, check out my [tumblr](http://tirsynni.tumblr.com/). :)


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